


Proximity

by HansoldMySoul



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Doyoung - Freeform, M/M, Mark - Freeform, RIP, The world needs more YuTae, donghyuck - Freeform, enjoy, mentions of Jaehyun, not even to me and i wrote it, this au doesn't really make sense, winwin - Freeform, yutae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 17:17:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9281852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HansoldMySoul/pseuds/HansoldMySoul
Summary: It literally takes the end of the world for Taeyong to admit he has feelings for Yuta.





	

It’s approximately 2 weeks until the predetermined end of the world, 14 days and an indeterminate handful of hours and minutes with the second hand ticking down far too fast for him to get a good read on it when Lee Taeyong realises that he doesn’t care. Not only does he not care, he’s heard enough about the fiasco to last him a lifetime (ha) and if his roommate decides to mention it even once more then blood will be spilled (after the rug has been rolled up because bloodstains are notoriously hard to clean and the last thing Taeyong needs on top of an apocalyptic disaster is a messy apartment.) Honestly, he thinks with distaste, there’s no conceivable excuse for Yuta to have a nervous breakdown at least once every half an hour but no amount of well-meaning (sarcastic) comments have yet managed to divert the frantic Japanese boy’s attention away from the end of time.

The entire notion is nothing short of insane but Yuta’s the type of person who hangs off every word uttered by the god-forsaken mouth of anyone with a smarmy title like ‘doctor’ or ‘scientist’ and if some knockoff astro-physicist with a plaque that he probably shines daily and piece of paper that declares him ‘the best’ says that a meteorite is on a collision course with earth then nothing is gonna stop him from believing it. (Taeyong thinks it’s bullshit but Yuta doesn’t appreciate his ‘underplaying the situation’ and ‘can’t he at least act nice if they’re gonna die in two weeks?’) (He can’t, too much energy he could spend being otherwise cynical and angry at the world.)

He knows that Yuta’s written a bucket list but he does nothing more than stare at it day in and day out, unable or unsure of how to make a start on any of the activities he wants to do before it’s ‘too late’. Taeyong isn’t going to volunteer to help, he thinks the whole idea is ridiculous and he can’t wait to watch Yuta squirm when the ‘end of the world’ comes and goes and they’re all still fine (Well, as fine as they were before, at the very least.)

Even now, Yuta is pacing back and forth across the rug in the living room (Taeyong is gonna kill him if he wears it down before they graduate) while he watches, unamused from his perch on the back of the couch. They were supposed to have gone out for drinks with Jaehyun and Sicheng but a last-minute decision found them alone in their apartment, neither willing to break the mounting tension in the room. (Taeyong just doesn’t care and Yuta is like a guitar string that’s wound too tight, his façade of calm composure won’t last much longer before it just snaps.)

“If you did believe…” Yuta starts, hesitating and looking as though he doesn’t know whether he should finish the question or go back to wearing holes in the rug. Taeyong grunts, throwing him a bone so that maybe he’ll finally unwind a little and they’ll go back the carefree atmosphere that they used to live in.

“That these were your final days… what would you want to say? To anyone in the world, no matter how far away they are. If it was the only chance you might ever get?” It’s phrased awkwardly and Taeyong tries to think about it objectively, it’s a valid question and there’s no immediate answer that springs to mind which comes as a surprise because Taeyong almost always has a sarcastic response for everything.

“I guess I’d tell Jaehyun that I’m sorry for planting that evidence that eventually broke him and Doyoung up but that at least he got Sicheng out of that whole ordeal. Then I’d tell my little brother that I’m sorry for leaving him alone to go to uni and finally, I’d—“ He stops, unsure of whether he really wants to say the last part. Lee Taeyong doesn’t believe that the world is going to end any time soon and he’d long since sworn to himself that he’d never bring this particular but of information up again. Yuta is watching him with barely concealed curiosity and it makes the small, vindictive part of him want to clam up just for the sake of wiping that look off his face but he pushes that to the back of his mind.

He takes a deep breath and just goes for it, figuring that things can’t really get any worse than they are in that moment. “I’d tell my crazy Japanese roommate that I had the biggest crush on him when we met in freshman year and that I’m sorry he’s having a hard time right now even if I think the whole thing is a huge scare tactic at best.”

That’s it, the secret’s out but Taeyong doesn’t feel a freeing sense of liberation or like he’s at peace with everything that’s happened in his life thus far, there’s only an empty space and Taeyong isn’t sure that he really knows how to fill that void. It’s a type of insecurity that he’s completely unused to and it weighs on his chest like a heavy coat.

Yuta doesn’t react immediately save to widen his eyes and stare, uncomprehending of the information that’s been imparted to him.

“You—“ he trails off, gesturing between them and looking as though he understood the quasi-confession about as much as if it had been spoken in French. “—and me? In freshman year, you threw my Bio book out of a third floor window and told the dorm advisor that I’d chosen to move out so that I had to go through all that paperwork just to get back into my own apartment.” Yuta sounds completely befuddled and it isn’t a stretch to figure out why, Taeyong had never really been the best at expressing his opinions and Yuta had been dating the tall, soccer playing Sophomore at the time which made him unreasonably angry.

“I was—am, finding it difficult to express myself…” Is the only answer Taeyong can think to give and it sounds flimsy even to his own ears but apparently Yuta thinks it’s adequate because he’s suddenly grinning like a fool (which is something Taeyong hasn’t really since the whole ‘we’re going to die’ thing started.)

“So you’re the type of kid who bullies the one they like just to ensure that they have their attention, positive or negative? That’s adorable and something I absolutely wouldn’t have pegged you for Lee Taeyong.” The silver haired boy wants to refute the claim but Yuta looks happy and for some reason he doesn’t want to ruin that (maybe it’s because he’s finally getting a break from all the doom and gloom of the past weeks.)

“I guess?” He mutters instead, face turned down so Yuta can’t see how red his cheeks are. (He’s filled his quota for being teased for the entire year already.)

“Well… that crazy Japanese roommate of yours happens to like you a lot too. Just ask the Hansol, I mean, we fake dated just to try and see if I could make you jealous. Though it kinda sucks, only figuring this all out when we’re going to die soon anyway.”

\--

Two weeks bleed in three and then four. Nothing apocalyptic happens but Taeyong finds that Yuta is much easier to deal with when he can silence any nonsensical rants with a kiss. Jaehyun declares them to be the most adorable couple in the universe (which is nonsense because Mark and Donghyuck clearly deserve that title) and everyone moves on with their lives.

It becomes an inside joke that it literally took the end of the world to get the two of them together but Taeyong doesn’t mind because it’s a good memory, even if it didn’t feel like it at the time.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short, drabble-ish thing, I'm not really sure what this is but enjoy anyway!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always greatly appreciated!~ It's great to hear what you thought of the fic!
> 
> Find me on Twitter @HansoldMS_Twt


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